pain management dr needed alabama

[djna]

My son is 28 yrs old. He has had chronic pancreatitis for 4 years now. He has been on a dose of 160 to 200 of methadone a day for a long time. He is allergic to many medications and they found that this one worked very well. It is the only thing he takes besides his high blood pressure meds and his medication to help him digest his food and for his heartburn. He is trying to take some courses at the local college to feel like he can still be functional as he is on total disability. His internist started getting nervous about continuing to treat his pain and referred him to a very mean, rude, disrespectful dr in birmingham. My son did not know this man was so terrible until he had to spend hours with him today for the first time. At the end of the visit this dr told my son he was giving him the fentandy patch and taking him off the methadone. My son ran out of his methadone yesterday and has no way of coming off of this strong medication. I have already packed my overnight bag for the hospital because unless God intervenes we will be on our way within a couple of days for methadone severe withdrawals. Now, I know you are asking yourselves what kind of person would do that to another human being; so are we. My son does have an appointment day after tomorrow with his internist who recommended this monster. I am hoping he will help him in some way. My son tryed the fentanyl patch today and said he could not drive and can barely get around the house because he feels so drugged. He had the highest grade in his history class last semister. He said he 'can't be on this in class because he sounds like a stupid drunk' and he does. My question is: does anyone know of a good pain dr in birmingham or the surrounding area who has any intelligence and would treat my son's chronic condition with care. thanks donna

[Mollyrae]

Nicely said Nick

[nick30]

Hi there,

I thought long and hard about responding to this post. Your sons situation may be quite a difficult one to help especially given that we can only talk through you, his mother, not him. It might be very helpful if you could get your son to chat with us. but if not there is just one thing that i want to tell you(as you are likely to have many difficult years ahead regarding your sons pain).
Your sons dose of methadone is very very high for a 28 year old. no wonder his dr's want him off it.
The others who posted above are correct with thier opinions of the fentanyl patch. I am another one of those who use this patch. it has given me a much better quality of life than any other medication i've ever been on. It is indeed very strong. Your son WILL get used to it(it does take time, it took me a whole month), and his dose can be adjusted where neccessary.
What cannot happen, is your sons being allowed to be on ever increasing doses of methadone at such a young age.
to give you some idea of how high his dose is, many ex-heroin addicts are on about 40mg a day methadone. 4-5 times less than your sons dose.
In NO way am i suggesting your son has done anything wrong. I'm just saying that he will be unable to get any dr's to prescribe massive doses of methadone forever.
He should persist with fentanyl. and I will say again, it would be good if we could chat with him directly to talk in detail about all of his problems.
Don't get me wrong, it's great that you care about your sons welfare, but it would still be easier to have direct contact with your son.
I wish both of you well. hope his pain is managed well.

Nick.

[Boxerluver]

Donna, it definately depends on what strength the doc put him on but the other thing to remember is that your son will get used to the med.  He might feel a little groggy or dizzy at first but that will in all probability wear off in a few days.  I think when a new drug is introduced, they want you on it for two weeks before making the decision that it is not working.  Now that is if you are not experiencing severe or debilitating side-effects and of course with narcotics, you want to be careful.

But if he is just kind of groggy give it a little more time and see.  If he can't stay awake or is stumbling around or you can't understand him, then there is a issue that needs immediate attention.

Fentenyl is strong, but is also a very effective pain med when titrated appropriately.

Good luck

[sandee1818]

I hope your son is doing better. I do know of a great doctor in Tuscaloosa so if you want that info please send me a PM.

[Mollyrae]

Hello djna and welcome to the Pain Forum.

I'm sorry that your Son is having problems. The Fentanyl Patch is a very good pain reliever. In fact, I have used the Patch for almost a year now. In my opinion and many others...the Fentanyl Patch is more powerful than the methadone. It is one of the strongest opiates on the market today. I'm surprised that you feel this way about the Patch. Have you done any research on Fentanyl? You should. It can be very dangerous if not used properly. Your Son will not go through withdrawals with changing to the Fentanyl. As I said, it is stronger than Methadone. I'm curious though, what strengh did the Doctor put him on?? The amount of Methadone was really strong so I would imagine that the Doctor would start your son out on a pretty high dose. If you have further questions, you can always contact me by sending me a message.

I think your Son is going to be alright. Like I said, the Fentanyl is a very strong medication. Please take care,
Mollyrae